Decluttering time

Day to Day obligations can be many and they can be very distracting when they are given the chance to disturb our peace, interrupt our focus, or bring havoc in their disordered presence. It is easy to be absorbed in all the stuff that comes at us in rapid fire succession. It is harder to stay on track with the things we know God is asking us to do, but whenever we let the day-to-day stuff distract us, we might just miss what God is doing for us.

But make sure that you don’t get so absorbed and exhausted in taking care of all your day-by-day obligations that you lose track of the time and doze off, oblivious to God. The night is about over, dawn is about to break. Be up and awake to what God is doing! (Romans 13:11-12)

Preoccupation is another word for absorbed. It is easy to understand how our preoccupations can actually tire us. We can become consumed by the things that fascinate us and easily engage our attention. In short order, our energies have been put into the things that distracted us from the things that really matter. The danger in preoccupation is that we lose sight - in other words, we get 'out of focus'. The thing God is doing around us is totally missed. What a shame it is for us to be out of step with God. My friends, it is time for us to 'be up and awake to what God is doing', but do we even realize we are 'up', but not 'awake' to his actions? It is one thing to be awake - another to be aware.

Preoccupation doesn't affect us being awake as much as it affects us being aware. Awareness indicates there is a mindfulness and receptiveness in our actions. Mindfulness begins by putting aside thoughts that only serve to clutter up our thought life. You know which ones those are because they have the ability to rap you up in all manners of worries and cares way beyond your ability to carry them. This is why scripture reminds us to take every thought captive - mindfulness is cultivated - it doesn't happen by accident. Receptive minds and hearts are a result of getting in tune with what God is doing around us. Today carries many distractions, but we can choose to ignore them and pay closer attention to the things he is doing, telling us, and asking us to do. Engagement isn't possible when there is so much clutter that we find focus hard. If focus is hard today, perhaps it is time to declutter a bit. Just sayin!

More than just awake

At nearly 101, mom sometimes has moments when she gets a little concerned about the 'other people' in the house. In actuality, there are no others around at that time, but somehow she thinks others should be here and she wants to know where they are sleeping or why they aren't eating with us. It is understandable since she has my sister here some of the week to be with her while I am at work. I have to remain alert to these changes in mom because if not addressed calmly and quickly, she will become distressed and worried about 'the others'. She will get down on herself for 'being daft' and then she will be worried he mind is going. Usually a soft answer, reassuring her everyone made it home safely and will be safe and sound in their own beds tonight is enough to settle her spirit, but I must remain alert to these sudden changes. Alertness is the ability to be keenly aware of your circumstances - so in tune with what is going on around you that nothing misses your focus. Rarely, if ever, do we enter into this realm of "alertness" - we almost always miss something despite our efforts to do otherwise! In fact, we most often think of alertness as being awake! God expects more, though. He expects us to be aware, not just alert!

God wants the combination of his steady, constant calling and warm, personal counsel in Scripture to come to characterize us, keeping us alert for whatever he will do next. (Romans 15:4 MSG)

Paul is describing a condition of heart and mind which is fully aware and attentive to the move of God. In the stillness of the moment, there is a keen awareness of his voice. In the hubbub of a busy day, there is the attentiveness to his Spirit's nudges. Two "tools" are utilized to give us this ability to be both aware and attentive - the steadiness of God's calling and the totally personal counsel of the Word. The first describes the continually steadying effect of his voice in our lives. There is nothing more uplifting than the sweet sound of his whispers of delight he takes watching over our lives. The second describes the Word of God as our personal place of counsel. In the Word, we find encouragement for living, warnings against unwise choices, and examples of both. His calling is both constant and steady. His Word is both warming to our spirits and personal in its touch. Both are to be the hallmarks of God's action in our lives. They are to "characterize" us. They come to represent God's activity within us, moving us to behave in ways which are not usually customary for us. Both are intended to keep us alert for what God will do next.

Most of us would love to know what the future holds. We can! If we come to embrace his steady, constant calling (listen well to his voice), and embrace his warm, personal counsel in Scripture (do more with the Word than just read it). We need to see and respond to the leading of a dependably steady God - a warmly personal God. Most of us lack this kind of dependability in our lives, though. We struggle to find spiritual footing most of the time. God gives us this kind of "footing" through the counsel of his Word and the direction of his still small voice. God's desire is to get "personal" with us. We often resist this kind of "closeness" in relationship with him because we might be afraid of what he will find out about us! Don't we realize he already knows it all anyway? There is nothing hidden from him - even what we do in secret is an open book to him.

When someone whispers we have to be close enough to them to hear the stillness of their voice. If we never let ourselves get close enough to God to actually hear the steadying effect of his call in our lives, how will we ever develop the alertness and attentiveness he desires? We can have bookshelves filled with all kinds of books written to help us through life's darkest challenges. If we never open the cover of the most important one (The Bible), how will we ever discern the wisdom contained in the many other books on the shelves? Isn't it time to get personal with God? Don't fear his closeness - embrace it! It is a closeness like no other you've experienced. You can trust him with anything - even your short-comings! So, be alert, but also become very aware - he is here right now. Just sayin!